Conference 2003
Greening the City:
Bringing Biodiversity Back
into the Urban Environment
Abstract:
Planning
for Urban Nature in New Zealand
Claire Freeman (Director Planning Programme, Geography Department,
University of Otago)
Urban
nature remains overlooked and undervalued in New Zealand and nowhere
is this more concerning than in the area of urban planning. This
paper explores some of the reasons why New Zealand has not embraced
urban nature in the way other countries have and the implications
this has for urban conservation. It looks at the role of planning
and planners in urban nature. Planners' work includes the development
of plans, policies, strategies and specific environmental projects
all of which can be vital in ensuring not only the protection of
areas of natural significance in urban areas but also in planning
for more natural cities for the future. It is thus essential that
conservationists and those with an interest in urban nature work
together gain a better understanding of the role of planners and
planning and vice versa.
The
second part of this paper presents the findings of a project undertaken
in the city of Dunedin to develop an ecological mapping methodology
for use in mapping urban habitats. The project was undertaken with
the Dunedin City Council who had two particular concerns: to avoid
the incremental loss of loss of open space to development and to
develop a strategic approach to open space planning. The project
results show that whilst Dunedin does indeed have a wealth of natural
habitats, in few of these do indigenous species predominate.
This
paper concludes by evaluating the project and considering its relevance
in planning for urban nature in New Zealand cities.
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